Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 19/11/2005 21:52, Karl Randolph wrote:

> Peter:
>
> Jeremiah 5:15 refers to a nation M(WLM. But a reading of 
> Genesis clearly shows that there was a world wide flood 
> about 1500 years after creation, and from then to the 
> Tower of Babel an indeterminate time, and the founding of 
> that nation an indeterminate time after that, so that M(WLM 
> could be as little as a third of the time from creation to 
> Jeremiah's time. For you to insist that (WLM goes back to 
> creation or beyond is ludicrous in this context.
>  

Yes, this is a possible case of past `olam meaning rather less than 
"ever since creation"  - if you assume that Jeremiah knew about the 
flood, the Tower of Babel etc., which not everyone would.

> There are many other similar usages in Tanakh for the 
> past, I don't need to repeat them.
>
> Similarly, (WLM referring to the future does not 
> necessarily mean "forever" or "eternity", though it may, 
> depending on context, unless you use "forever" and 
> "eternity" in a highly idiosyncratic manner.
>
>  
Well, I have asked everyone on this list several times, and the only 
supposed examples I have received (apart from the "slavery to the end of 
his life" example which I have dealt with) are based on reinterpreting 
the Hebrew language on the basis of New Testament and later Christian 
theology. I am not "us[ing] "forever" and "eternity" in a highly 
idiosyncratic manner", I am simply using them to describe the 
understanding of the original Hebrew Bible authors, which was not 
informed by the New Testament.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/